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EP-4418824-B1 - GESTURE CONTROL FOR IN-WALL DEVICE

EP4418824B1EP 4418824 B1EP4418824 B1EP 4418824B1EP-4418824-B1

Inventors

  • MONTEITH, Shawn
  • TETREAULT, MICHAEL
  • GOULD, DANIEL
  • KRAUS, NICHOLAS

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20181219

Claims (13)

  1. A power switch comprising: a housing (102) mountable on or at least partially within a surface, the housing (102) having a front panel (105); an interface element disposed on the front panel (105); a power interrupter operable to control power delivery to one or more powered loads based at least in part on user interaction with the interface element; a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) configured to project visible light through the interface element; and one or more processors (240) configured to, obtain data indicative of one or more non-contact gestures, determine a control action based at least in part on the data indicative of the one or more hand gestures, and illuminate one or more of the plurality of LEDs to provide an indication associated with the control action, characterized in the interface element is formed from a plastic material configured to act as both a light pipe and a diffuser for light emitted from the plurality of LEDs.
  2. The power switch of claim 1, wherein the plurality of LEDs are disposed between the interface element and the housing (102).
  3. The power switch of claim 1, wherein the interface element diffusely transmits light emitted from the plurality of LEDs to a front of the interface element.
  4. The power switch of any of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of LEDs is arranged in a ring.
  5. The power switch of any of the preceding claims, wherein the data indicative of one or more non-contact gestures includes data indicative of one or more hand gestures.
  6. The power switch of claim 5, further comprising a passive infrared sensor (180), and wherein the data indicative of one or more hand gestures is obtained via the passive infrared sensor (180).
  7. The power switch of any of the preceding claims, further comprising one or more microphones (142, 144) operable to obtain audio input.
  8. The power switch of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors (240) is configured to illuminate the one or more of the plurality of LEDs to provide confirmation of detection of the audio input.
  9. The power switch of any of the preceding claims, further comprising a speaker (130) configured to provide audio output.
  10. The power switch of claim 9, wherein the speaker (130) is disposed between the housing (102) and the interface element.
  11. The power switch of claim 10, wherein a gap is defined between the interface element and the housing (102) around at least a portion of an edge of the interface element, the gap configured to allow audio output to emanate from the speaker (130) and past the interface element.
  12. The power switch of any of claims 9-11, wherein the speaker (130) is disposed in a recess defined in the housing (102).
  13. The power switch of any of claims 9-12, wherein the interface element is configured to amplify audio output from the speaker (130).

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM The present application is based on and claims priority to United States Provisional App. No. 62/608,121, titled "Gesture Control for In-Wall Device," having a filing date of December 20, 2017. The present application is also based on and claims priority to United States Provisional App. No. 62/640,296, titled "Gesture Control for In-Wall Device," having a filing date of March 8, 2018. In addition, the present application is based on and claims priority to United States Provisional App. No. 62/673,239, titled "Gesture Control for In-Wall Device," having a filing date of May 18, 2018. FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to in-wall devices, such as power switch devices. BACKGROUND In-wall devices can include devices that can be mounted on or at least partially disposed in a wall or other surface (e.g., in a wall mounted electrical box). Example in-wall devices can include power switches used to control various powered devices, such as electronics, light sources, appliances, power outlets, and other devices. Power switches can control power delivered to a load, for instance, by interrupting a conductor delivering power to a load. Example power switches can include, for instance, single or multiple on/off toggle switches, paddle or rocker switches, single or multiple pole dimmer switches, power outlets, etc. With the advance of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, power switches and other in-wall devices can communicate with other electronic devices over one or more communication links. For instance, power switches can be capable of communicating using communication technologies, such as Bluetooth low energy, Bluetooth mesh networking, near-field communication, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Ethernet, etc. WO 2015/18430 A1 describes a light switch network having the precharacterizing features of claim 1. US 2016/006436 A1 describes a keypad assembly having a backlighting panel positioned behind a transparent element. SUMMARY Aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be learned from the description, or may be learned through practice of the embodiments. In accordance with the present invention there is provided a power switch having the characterizing features of claim 1. Optional, preferred features are defined in the dependent claims. These and other features, aspects and advantages of various embodiments will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the related principles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Detailed discussion of embodiments directed to one of ordinary skill in the art are set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which: FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of an example power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 2 depicts a front view of an example power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 3 depicts an exploded view of an example power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 4 depicts a first button and second button assembly of a power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 5 depicts a front view of an example power switch with a rocker button removed according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 6 depicts an example sound gap defined between a rocker button and a paddle housing according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 7 depicts an example light ring indicator on a rocker button according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 8 depicts an example night light indicator on a rocker button according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 9 depicts an example access door for gaining access to program a power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 10 depicts a block diagram of example components of a power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 11 depicts an example computing environment used in conjunction with a power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 12 depicts a flow diagram of an example method according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 13A depict an example indicator for display on a power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 13B depict an example indicator for display on a power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 13C depict an example indicator for display on a power switch according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 13D depict an example indicator for display on a power switch according to example embodimen